February 19, 2025

4 thoughts on “Town Finally Removes Grounded Sailboat from Beach

  1. It is interesting when reading about Henry Hudson ascending the Hudson River in 1609 to note how many times they got into shoal water and became grounded, and by waiting for the tide (the Hudson River is tidal all the way to Albany) and sending out boats with lines, they always got unstuck and after that managed to sail back down to the mouth of the river and back across the ocean to Europe in the same ship:

    “The seventeenth, faire, sun-shining weather, and very hot.”

    “In the morning as soon as the sun was up, we set sayle, and run up six leagues higher and found shoales in the middle of the channel, and small ilands but seven fathoms water on both sides.”

    “Toward night we borrowed so neere the shoare that we grounded; so we layed out our small anchor, and heaved off againe.”

    “Then we borrowed on the banke in the channell and came agrounde againe.”

    “While the floud ran, we hoved off againe, and anchored all night.”

    “The eighteenth, in the morning, was faire weather, and we rode still.”

    “The nineteenth was faire and hot weather.”

    “At the floode, being neere eleven of the clocke, wee weighed and ran higher up two leagues above the shoalds, and had no lesse water than five fathoms.”

    “We anchored, and rode in eight fathoms.”

    “The twentieth, in the morning, was faire weather.”

    “Our master’s mate, with four men more, went up with our boat to sound the river, and found, two leagues above vs, but two fathoms water and the channell very narrow, and above that place between seven or eight fathoms.”

    “Toward night they returned, and we rode still all night.”

    “The one and twentieth was faire weather, and the wind all southerly.”

    “This night, at ten of the clocke, our boate returned in a shower of raine from sounding of the river, and found it to be at an end for shipping to goe in.”

    “For they had beene vp eight or nine leagues, and found but seven foot water and unconstant sounding.”

    “The three and twentieth, faire weather.”

    “At twelve of the clocke wee weighed and went downe two leagues to a shoald that had two channells, one on the one side, and another on the other, and had little wind, whereby the tide layed us upon it.”

    “So there wee sate on the ground the space of an houre till the floud came.”

    “Then we had a little gale of wind at the west.”

    “So wee got our ship into deepe water and rode all night very well.”

  2. Sounds like today people have the money to buy a fancy sailboat, but not the brains to know how to sail it, or where to sail it not, which is what I always thought charts were all about, although hey, maybe they had high-tech computers on board instead that were supposed to tell them they were about to go aground, so they didn’t need charts, which are so so retro when you think about it.

    And why don’t they know how to unground the ship, where there is so much nautical lore in existence as to how it is done, as was the case back in 1609 with Henry Hudson, when sailors were obviously way more intelligent than they are now.

    1. Good Sir, thank you for the sailors tale. Enjoyed reading.
      By the way, they were sailors back then. Today most are boat owners NOT Sailors!!

  3. Why would a ‘town’ be responsible for removing someone’s sailboat? You can not make ignorance like that up.

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